What was the world listening to?
Music charts website
Impressive, cool project charting music in 20 countries from 1940 to 2025. Critics say some country charts seem inaccurate.
Impressive, cool project charting music in 20 countries from 1940 to 2025. Critics say some country charts seem inaccurate.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 85%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Impressive, cool project overall
“Very cool! One small UI grip: When I play a song the control at appears in the bottom of the page blocks the footer”
Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: What was the world listening to? Music charts, 20 countries (1940–2025)” “This is amazing! One of the coolest projects I've seen on here tbh”
Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: What was the world listening to? Music charts, 20 countries (1940–2025)” “Overall, really impressive.”
Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: What was the world listening to? Music charts, 20 countries (1940–2025)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Years locked to five-year intervals
“I wish the years weren't locked to 5 year intervals.”
Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: What was the world listening to? Music charts, 20 countries (1940–2025)” “you can skip destinations only by 5 years :(”
Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: What was the world listening to? Music charts, 20 countries (1940–2025)” Missing countries or no country selection
“I found a mistake, clicked the suggest correction button and I couldn't find the country in the list.”
Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: What was the world listening to? Music charts, 20 countries (1940–2025)” “chart doesn't allow for selection of other countries not already present”
Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: What was the world listening to? Music charts, 20 countries (1940–2025)” Some charts seem inaccurate
“for some country (i'm from Italy) maybe the charts are not so accurate”
Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: What was the world listening to? Music charts, 20 countries (1940–2025)” “the israeli one has a lot of wrong data as well”
Comment from 14 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: What was the world listening to? Music charts, 20 countries (1940–2025)” “the songs seem to be wrong”
Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: What was the world listening to? Music charts, 20 countries (1940–2025)”
What people said
12 of the 13 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the israeli one has a lot of wrong data as well”
“Overall, really impressive.”
“I found a mistake, clicked the suggest correction button and I couldn't find the country in the list.”
“This is amazing! One of the coolest projects I've seen on here tbh”
“the songs seem to be wrong”
“the results seem to be fairly accurate”
“I wish the years weren't locked to 5 year intervals.”
“chart doesn't allow for selection of other countries not already present”
“That browser tab is staying open for days.”
“for some country (i'm from Italy) maybe the charts are not so accurate”
“you can skip destinations only by 5 years :(”
“Very cool! One small UI grip: When I play a song the control at appears in the bottom of the page blocks the footer”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.